The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-03-04
GUIDO VENTURA'S TARGET.
Transiated irom &c Frencn.

lllS lbs PllNdUo luSdIl6 asylum, duu
was proceeding toward the entrance
OF his private study. The celebrated
alienist was telling me the history of
one OF his most remarkable cases-a
patient we had just passed on
way through the grounds, and who
had saluted us in an almost p~atroniz-
ing amer
That mans peculiar MANIA" said
the doctor, "is to believe himself a
famous parsonage. He thinks he is a
son of heaven, the sovereign of the
whole celestial empire; and there is
not a day he does not hand the keeper
enough OF dispatches, confidential let
tiers and diplomatic instructions for
his ambassador, Marquis Tseng, to
make q whole volume"
Just at that moment a sharp re-
port rang out a few steps away. I
caught the doctors arm, and exclaim-
ed:
whats that? One OF your pa
tients may have done something ter
rible?"
DR.. Noriot only smiled.
mo" he said, don't be afraid. This
is another very curious case; l want
you to see him."
And turning to the left, he led the
way toward a little pavilion, conceal
ed from view behind a clump of trees.
He unlocked q door, made me pass
through a narrow vestibule; and we
found ourselves in a sort of long court
yard, surrounded by high walls. A tall
man was standing there, attired in a
costume which recalled in some of its
details, the Mexican dres'. The man
was standing with his back against
the wall of the pavilion, and as we en-
tered, he lifted his right arm, clutch
ing a loaded pistol. Our advent did
deliberate aim, with aperfectly steady
hand. l followed the direction OF his
aim, and | saw, about twenty PAGES
away, about a foot from the further
wall, a white face, with O black hole in
the middle of its forehead. 1t seemed
to be, as we'll as l could make out, one
of those we'll known plaster casts OF
Greek heads. | thought | could dis
tinguish it as a head of Diana the
Huntress.
The pistol went off. The head did
not move; and no splinters or frag-
ments fell from it.
"Look"said the doctor in q whisper.
at is very singular. HIS never misses"
"How?"
"No, he never misses. Every ball
goes in the same ~place-right into the
little black hole, which isn't any bigger
than q 5 franc piece"
The man had taken another weapon
from his belt. He shot. The target
still remained intact. The arm was
a revolver of the American pattern;
the shooter fired five more balls in
succession. Not one of them seemed
to Craze the forehead of the white
lace.
The doctor touched the marksman
on the shoulder. He turned round.
His face heavily bearded, had a sing
ular expression of mingled resolution
and melancholy.
stStop for one moment" said the
doctor. The man nodded his head in
consent. a
Then the doctor led me to the other
end Of the court; and showed me, i'm
mediately behind the plaster head, a
black piece of sheet iron that had been
fastened up to protect the wall. In
the very middle OF the piece OF sheet
ircn was q shining round spot, with
reflections OF lead caused by the crush.
ing of the pistol balls against it.
Now you can see" he said as he
pointed out the exact linear CORE
spondence Of the bright spot upon the
sheet iron to the hole in the plaster
cast, "you can see for yourself that
all the balls pass through the same
hole. You won't find a single bullet
mark anywhere else.
1T is marvellous, = said. 'But
what a strange case this must be-"
'Come along" said the doctor, "and
I'll tell you all about it when we get
outside"
We again crossed the courtyard and
passed the vestibule OF the pavilion.
And this is what the doctor told me,
while behind US rang out the pistol
shots at regular intervals.
4 n y y
s"This unfortunate man. said my
host. lis one Guido Ventura. Wheth
or he is an Italian, q Spaniard or an
American, ] cannot positively say.
Probably an American. 1t is the
new world which usually sends us
these vIrtuosos in the art of using the
revolver or the rifle. And besides, it
was from America that hecamedirect-
iy to France. You might have seen